True Green Capital Management and financier CIT Group have announced the closing of a US$35 million contract for the construction of a 12.3MW installation at a US military housing base.
Installed by Trinity Solar, the solar power plant will provide electricity at a reduced rate for a period of 20 years to the privatised military family housing community at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.
In addition to equity contributed by True Green Capital Management, CIT Energy served as sole lead arranger in a US$24 million senior secured credit facility provided by CIT Bank, the US commercial bank subsidiary of CIT Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The project under construction currently employs over 120 engineering, electrical, installation and maintenance workers and upon completion scheduled for the second half of 2013 will generate an estimated 13.7 million kilowatt hours of renewable electric power annually. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this annual level of clean, sustainable power production offsets in excess of 1 million gallons of gasoline or approximately 22 million barrels of foreign crude oil each year.
Mike Haydinger of United Communities commented: "The estimated 13.7 million kilowatt hours produced each year by the full rooftop solar system will represent roughly 40 percent of the annual electricity usage of our 2,104 military family homes at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. After careful evaluation of parties with which to partner for a solar solution to meet our goals of energy savings and efficiency, we are pleased to bring the project to fruition at United Communities in partnership with True Green Capital Management and installer Trinity Solar."
